Rand Paul

Republican state lawmakers and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul are rallying around a yet-to-be-revealed bill that would make changes to Kentucky’s election laws, though it’s unclear what exactly the bill would do.

Rep. Jennifer Decker, a Republican from Waddy and the bill’s sponsor, said Thursday she won’t unveil the contents of the bill to the public or Democratic lawmakers until the day before the bill receives its first vote.

Decker said she has received input from county clerks, the State Board of Elections and current and former GOP officials.

“We combined our list and we’re paring it down in an attempt to include only those ideas that would help advance the goal of enhancing the integrity and trust in our election system,” Decker said.

Updated at 5:53 p.m. ET

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has become the first senator to test positive for the coronavirus. His staff says he is asymptomatic.

In a statement released on Sunday, Paul's deputy chief of staff, Sergio Gor, wrote:

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul introduced an amendment granting authority to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to sell off an unspecified amount of Daniel Boone National Forest near the border of Tennessee.

The amendment called for the sale of forest lands along U.S. Highway 27 from Burnside, Kentucky, to where the highway crosses the state line.

It didn’t describe exactly what lands would be included, it didn’t define what “along” meant and it didn’t prescribe a specific acreage, said Jim Scheff with Kentucky Heartwood, a public lands advocacy organization.

Update:

A Warren Circuit Court jury has returned a verdict in the civil trial of U.S. Senator Rand Paul and the neighbor convicting of assaulting him. 

After one-and-a-half hours of deliberations on Wednesday, jurors awarded Paul $7,834.82 in medical expenses and $200,000 for pain and suffering.  Rene Boucher was also ordered to pay $375,000 in punitive damages to Paul.

"Certainly not what we expected. I haven't gotten my head around it yet," responded Boucher's attorney Matt Baker. "It's just not what we expected."

The Republican lawmaker was seeking a maximum of $1.5 million in damages stemming from the attack outside his Bowling Green home in 2017.

U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky says he feared for his life when he was blind-sided by his neighbor and tackled to the ground over a property dispute in 2017.  The Republican lawmaker took the witness stand on Monday in his civil trial against retired anesthesiologist Rene Boucher. 

Senator Paul said after he was tackled from behind and rolling downhill not knowing who was attacking him, his mind immediately went back to earlier in the year when he escaped gunfire at a congressional baseball practice near Washington D.C. 

“The thought crossed my mind, ‘I may never get up from this lawn,’” Paul stated in the courtroom.

Kentucky's two U.S Senators both have well-funded political action committees. But the two spend their PAC money in very different ways.

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports Republican Mitch McConnell spent the majority of funds last year from his PAC, the Bluegrass Committee, on national, state and local campaigns.

About 80 percent of donations to the Bluegrass Committee came from other PACs, instead of individuals.

U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky have joined a growing list of lawmakers who have had their private information made public.  The information leaks come as both lawmakers report increasing bouts of threat and intimidation.

The Washington-D.C. newspaper Roll Call reports that McConnell’s home addresses in Washington and Kentucky were posted on his public Wikipedia page this week.  In an op-ed to CNN, Rand Paul’s wife Kelley wrote that someone posted the address of their Bowling Green home online, as well as the senator’s cell phone number. 

U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky says Brett Kavanaugh “absolutely” still has his support. 

The Bowling Green Republican says he thinks the U.S. Supreme Court nominee will be confirmed in the next week or so, despite accusations that he sexually assaulted a young woman when he was in high school. 

Paul told WKU Public Radio on Thursday evening that he thinks it’s a mistake to discredit Kavanaugh’s personal life and career based on accusations.

"I think we should be judged on the totality of our life. He's been married for 25 years, he's a good husband and father, he's been a judge for 12 years," Paul commented. "I think we shouldn't discount that when someone comes forward with an accusation from 35 years ago."

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul says the White House needs to use a lie detector test to find out who wrote an anonymous op-ed published in the New York Times this week.

The op-ed is purportedly written by a senior official in President Trump’s administration who claims to be a part of an internal resistance effort actively working to block the president’s most extreme policies and instincts.

A judge in Warren Circuit Court ruled on Monday that the neighbor who attacked Kentucky U.S. Senator Rand Paul over yard debris must stay away from the Republican lawmaker and his family. 

Senator Rand Paul suffered broken ribs and pneumonia after his Bowling Green neighbor, retired anesthesiologist Rene Boucher, attacked him over yard maintenance in November. The day before that attack, Boucher trespassed onto Paul’s property and set fire to yard debris. Boucher suffered some burns in the process.

U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky says President Trump should continue revoking the security clearance of former government officials. 

Paul is applauding the President's decision to revoke the security clearance of John Brennan.  The former CIA director has been critical of the president for meeting with Vladimir Putin and maintaining a dialogue with the Russian leader.  Trump and Paul maintain that diplomacy with Russia is necessary.

The neighbor who admitted to attacking U.S. Senator Rand Paul outside his home last fall was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green to 30 days in jail. 

Rene Boucher was also ordered to serve one year of supervised release, perform 100 hours of community service, and have no intentional contact with the Paul family. 

Boucher addressed the court and offered an apology to the Republican lawmaker who sustained broken ribs and other injuries after being tackled from behind while mowing his lawn on November 3.

"What I did was wrong and I hope he and his family can one day accept my apology," Boucher said.